St. Patrick's and Travel:
First off, let's talk about St. Patrick's Day briefly. It is tomorrow, and we can all agree that it might be one of the coolest ethnic holidays celebrated in the USA. Whether you're Irish, or not, everyone can agree that Ireland has had some rough. Still even with all that crap, they still love to commemorate it all by having a damn good time. My kind of people right there. So in keeping with budgeting; I have a block of Irish cheese and some beer at home for tomorrow night. So I too can be Irish for a night.
Moving on, in a few days I will be in sunny warm Fargo, North Dakota. Yeah that's right, Fargo. Oddly right now Fargo is predicted to be in the 40s and sunny, essentially the same early spring weather I am used to in the Mid-Atlantic US. Why go there though? Sports, every year I make 1 big trip for sports, and this is it. It should be a good time, doing nothing but playing and having a good time away from the grind. Everyone needs a little break from the normal to get ground again.
Taxes:
Tax wise, this has turned into a surprisingly nice month. I thought at the beginning of this month I'd owe a solid tax payment, I was wrong. Filing jointly with my wife we got a sizable return back. Last year she had done even better, because of her continuing education credits. Those education credits, combined with our income disparity (I make more than her), led us to get almost $700 back. Now, normally I aim for zero or slightly negative, but that along with the rest of my life is slightly redefined via marriage. Its not a bad thing, especially since she was happy and it was nice to not face the marriage tax 'penalty.' I'd like to eventually get that number down close to zero, but for now I'm excited that I don't have to pay anything.
On the investment front, this nice tax windfall has enabled me to put a little more money into the market. I will be using Loyal3 to purchase approximately 1 share of Kellogg's (K) and 3 shares of Coca Cola (KO). The market has been riding a wave downward of late, which is nice and allows me to expand on some positions that are suddenly better valued. If this continues my plan for the year might be slightly altered. Lower prices would push me to kick in some more capital to my Loyal3 positions and allowing me get even closer to the day I combine it with my Sharebuilder account.
One last thought on investing is my position in DuPont (DD). I like basic materials a lot. However, DD does not appear to provide the long term growth I am looking for. DD will probably be sold soon, in doing this my new capital will be quickly turned around into another worthwhile investment. There are several stocks I would like to add, all of which have better yields and growth potential. So keep an eye out for that change.
How has your tax season and recent investing been?
- Gremlin
- Long all stocks mentioned, for now.
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